Barrio Brawler

American BRAWLER is a hard-working martial arts drama, the greatest triumph of which is that it provides a platform for a bunch of very talented film fighters to display their talents. It's far from perfect, with a trailer that's definitely better paced than the film itself, but if you happen to like action flicks which mix a bit of wrestling with the tricking while leaning heavily on dramatic content, this one could interest you.

The story: When he finds himself in danger of losing his dojo, martial arts instructor Carlos Castillo (Marco Alvarez) gives in to the urgings of his brother Ricky (Dennis Ruel) and enters an underground fighting tournament run by a notorious gangster (O. G. Rivera).

"Dramatic" martial art features have their work cut out for them: especially when featuring performers whose kicks are stronger than their acting skills, they must balance trying to touch their audience with a soulful story and supplying them with the proper adrenaline rushes. When this is done right, you get a movie like Van Damme's IN HELL, from which a viewer can glean a respectable tale while still getting his karate fix. When this is done wrong, you get a film like Andre Lima's BEYOND THE RING, throughout which a viewer yells "Just fight already!" at the screen while enduring uncomfortably-staged drama. American BRAWLER is somewhere between those two: there's a respectable amount of action to see, but while the dramatic portions aren't all that bad, you still get the feeling that the movie has undertaken something too complex for itself. On one hand it's a family drama focusing on the relationship between brothers and between separated parents, while on the other hand it's a gangster fantasy with nonstop posturing and excess profanity. The two clash inharmoniously and I'm left with the opinion that it all seemed smoother in the filmmakers' imaginations.

The action content is an effort by the Stunt People team, whose work has greatly benefited several movies in the past. In this one, they attempt to mix their usual acrobatic kickboxing with some wrestling, the result of which is good but far from spectacular. I loved the first substantial fight between Alvarez and Ruel for its tight pacing and flawless filming, and the final battle between Alvarez and Morgan Benoit is also a strong showing, but the five fights between them feature choreography that had to be shot in shorter segments, and they generally lack that satisfying back & forth pacing. Marco makes a powerful presence for a first-timer and fits the role of his character well, but Morgan Benoit is unconvincingly built up as a beast whose main strength is fighting dirty. Just about everybody looks good while delivering their kicks, but in the end, there's just not enough oomph to bolster this one's average rating.

Despite being marketed as a "MMA Masterpiece," the movie actually expresses a negative sentiment towards fighting for profit, which may displease some of the audience it's being advertised to. Then again, I'm relatively apathetic about the film now that I've seen it, so it's hard to say how a more intrigued viewer might feel. It's worth a peek, but I wouldn't necessarily put it ahead of many other movies of the same genre.

Stars: Morgan Benoit. A Jose Montesinos picture.

When I was in my action/adventure movie immersion in the '70s and '80s, Michael Dudikoff would come out with a American Ninja flick like every 8 months. Barrio Brawler brings us again to the James Ryan,Leo Fong, and David Heavener School Of Acting- Athletes from decades back. The scenes come off "ROCKY" like from the raw first movie,Not the manufactured physique of 2-6 ? Jose Montesinos has a superstar, Morgan Benoit,Who like Jean-Claude Van Damme in his first major role is the bad guy, See what we are getting at – Barrio Brawler is awesome to watch ! The hero,Marco Alvarez, Has the underdog giving us his all acting style,Very welcome performance.

What should I say about this? I hadn't written much reviews in IMDb. But this movie made me to write one. A basic stunt movie where the stunts totally lack the pace. There is nothing much to watch except the overall 15 minutes stunts in 1 hour 20 minutes.

This movie kind of an insult to all kind of stunt movies. I hate Tekken a lot. This movie was more worse than that. At least Tekken had some good lengthy stunts. Carlos Castillo's stunt moves were bad than Ricky's. Terrible movie. Save your money and time rather than watching this.

The Stunts scenes should have been available in youtube by now. Just watch that and read the plot from IMDb and that's it.

To be honest I didn't think much of this before I watched it expecting it to be poor quality. Was I wrong!! I loved this movie!!! I don't understand why people would post a negative review. Fair enough American Brawler is slightly B-Grade with a plot that's been done to death.

However, in saying so this is a different format of the typical plot line regarding a struggling martial artist is fighting in an illegal bare knuckle circuit in order to save his school or to prevent himself from filing for bankruptcy.

I enjoyed the creation of characters and especially the fight scenes...there were some awesome scenes during the fights when they are fighting fast paced, but then slow motion. I loved it! Overall, the movie makers should definitely do more movies like this. Thanks for keeping martial arts movies alive.

I have been watching martial arts movies throughout my childhood until adulthood. I recommend this if you are a martial arts movie buff such as myself.

To the negative reviewers...you must have bad taste in movies.

What a really pleasant surprise. If Barrio Brawler really is from The Asylum, they have finally shown that they have a movie that is actually more than decent in them. Before, the best of their movies were only watchable and mediocre and would warrant a 6 at most. Most of the time though, The Asylum's output is just terrible that might have some novelty value when you are not being infuriated at their ineptitude and their shameless ripping-off of various films classic or not. Barrio Brawler is a really good movie, one where you have to check a few times to see whether it really was distributed by The Asylum. There are no obvious rip-offs and effort is actually evident. The story is not the most original and is a little predictable at times, and the movie sometimes feels rushed. However, it's slickly shot, the slow motion technique(am not usually a fan) being put to authentic use in the fight sequences. The dialogue is smart, well-meaning and flows well, even if some of the Spanish idioms may go over the heads of those not familiar with them. The story is still delivered with energy and a lot of heart with some nice fresh twists in the mix. The characters are ones that you can identify with, the lead character Carlos in particular is a very well-rounded and written character, both likable and conflicted. The fight sequences are spirited and very well-choreographed, looking all fast and smooth. The locations are minimal but by no means cheap. The acting is great, Marco Antonio Alvarez and Dennis Ruel are perfect as Carlos and Ricky and O.G.Dave Rivera's Morales is a snake in every meaning of the word. Overall, really good, easily the best that The Asylum has done and by a clear mile too. 8/10 Bethany Cox